She's the Man (2006)

Director:

Andy Fickman

Writers (WGA):

Ewan Leslie (screenplay) and
Karen McCullah Lutz (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 March 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

If you wanna chase your dream, sometimes you gotta break the rules.

Plot:

When her brother decides to ditch for a couple weeks in London, Viola heads over to his elite boarding school, disguises herself as him, and proceeds to fall for one of her soccer teammates. Little does she realize she's not the only one with romantic troubles, as she, as he, gets in the middle of a series of intermingled love affairs.

Plot Keywords:

Soccer | School | Twin | Roommate | Girls' Soccer

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Amanda Bynes	...	Viola
Channing Tatum	...	Duke
Laura Ramsey	...	Olivia Lennox
Vinnie Jones	...	Dinklage
David Cross	...	Gold
Julie Hagerty	...	Daphne
Robert Hoffman	...	Justin
Alexandra Breckenridge	...	Monique (as Alex Breckenridge)
Jonathan Sadowski	...	Paul
Amanda Crew	...	Kia
Jessica Lucas	...	Yvonne
Brandon Jay McLaren	...	Toby
Clifton MaCabe Murray	...	Andrew (as Clifton Murray)
James Snyder	...	Malcolm
James Kirk	...	Sebastian

Also Known As:

Dude Looks Like a Lady (USA) (working title)
L'homme c'est elle (Canada: French title)
Walk Like a Man, Talk Like a Man (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual material

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:12A | Ireland:PG | USA:PG-13 (certificate no. 42397) | Malaysia:U | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-7 | Argentina:Atp | Philippines:PG-13 | Hong Kong:IIA | Iceland:L | Netherlands:6 | South Korea:12 | Portugal:M/6 | Australia:M (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Granville Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

The producers of this film initially wanted Jesse McCartney to play the role of Sebastian, because McCartney's facial features are similar to that of Amanda Bynes. McCartney was unavailable to shoot the film, so they cast James Kirk instead. Most of the cheerleaders also were the dancers in Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005), which was also directed by Andy Fickman.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the weight room, when Duke and Viola are talking about Duke asking Viola out, Olivia can be seen in the corner of the shot on a machine, watching. In the next shot, she's on the treadmill.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Justin: Oh! She shoots, she scores! Goal!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: 2009 Teen Tournament Finals: Game 1 (#26.44)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Invincible

Roll in the aisles funny, a real blast!!

She's The Man was everything I wanted it to be and maybe even a little more. I love the teen type "chick flick" films and I knew this one would be great!! In the same vein as 10 Things I Hate About You (one of my all time faves) She's The Man is a unique, well written, very well performed comedy with some of the funniest lines, and physical comedy I have seen in a long time. It's probably the funniest movie I've seen this year (with the exception of the hilarious Pink Panther.) But She's The Man is actually a more intellectual funny and most of the humor relies on the witty script, "Three's Company" style story of mistaken identities, and mixed messages, and the cast.

Amanda Bynes is a star!! Even since the days of the horribly campy (yet strangely entertaining "The Amanda Show", she has shown a brilliant talent for comedy. She's probably one of the most talented comediennes out there. Her style of physical comedy, impersonations, and witty dialect makes her hilarious. Previously her big screen debut (where she was the star) was the rather hilarious and well made "What A Girl Wants." If that wasn't her break out vehicle than She's The Man takes care of that hands down. Bynes is really the ultimate girl next door. It's a shame she doesn't do more big screen work because she could be the next "It" girl. She is the All American, cute, down to earth, bubbly teen (although she's twenty now) and whether or not she'll be able to carry her talent and style over to being an adult actor will remain to be seen. But for the purpose of this film she is perfect!! She actually legitimately pulls off the rather outlandish plot of her impersonating her twin brother and makes it believable. Not entirely...but believable enough. Most of the script relies on the comedy of her errors trying to be a guy but it's just hilarious, non stop laughs. Channing Tatum redeems himself from his deplorable performance in 2005's "Havoc" by plays Duke. He's the jock, the captain of the soccer team, and eventually Bynes' object of affection, unfortunately he's also Sebastian's room mate (who is Bynes.) He's a good leading man, and the chemistry is perfect between them. Laura Ramsey is Olivia, who happens to be attracted to Sebastian (who again is Bynes.) She does good as well although her part is small and she doesn't really effect the rest of the cast one way or another. James Kirk is great in his small role as the real Sebastian. His resemblance to Amanda Bynes is astonishing...they are absolutely believable as twins and further more, from a distance you could understand someone believing Bynes is Sebastian. The rest of the cast all fit in there somewhere and their roles range from brief to more supporting but essentially they are all supporting the story between Bynes and Tatum but everyone is more or less supporting Bynes terrific performance. She easily carries the film with no hesitations and makes it worth while.

This is one of those films that shows so much in the trailer and yet it's not one of those films that when that part comes up it's not funny anymore. The parts in the trailer that make you laugh are even more hilarious in the actual film. Relative newcomer director Andy Fickman does such an incredible job on this film. He weaves together a potentially complicated storyline and makes it flow naturally and makes everything fall together. The story which is loosely based off of Shakespeares Twelfth Night but it's remarkable how much they managed to translate over to this modern day film. It's seemingly completely off the wall but more exact to the classic comedy than you'd think. There isn't too much to say about a downside except that the last half hour drags a little and also becomes a might predictable but it doesn't change the hilarity of the first half of the film. Nonetheless you'll be laughing to tears and it's one of the funniest films in the theater right now hands down!!! 9/10